Testing out my Vermon DRM 1 Mrk3 Seq by electribe MX

YouTube via H4NDCRAFTED
"Just testing out my new Vermona DRM Mrk3.
Just did some tr style sequencing with my electribe.
No effects and no electribe sounds."

A QUICK BREAK KORG ELECTRIBE MX

YouTube via H4NDCRAFTED. "JUST A LITTLE BREAK I DID ON THE ELECTRIBE WIP"

Oxygene Part 2 (re-recorded with freeware VSTi's)

YouTube via SplitTheBeam
"This was an experiment to find out if I could re-create Jarre's Oxygene Part 2 using only freeware VSTi plugins (this is a recording I made using Cakewalk Sonar 4). None of the sounds I have used come from commercial applications, they are all freeware and cost me nothing. My respect and admiration goes out to the people who created these plugins. There are NO samples taken from the original recording. This recording runs about 5 bpm faster than the original.

For the general Pad sound I used the J M Jarre Pad setting on the SuperwaveP8 VST.

The string sound is also a SuperwaveP8 preset called (not surprisingly) J M Jarre Strings. The trick with the Jarre string sounds is the phaser effect you apply to them. Jarre used an Electroharmonix Small Stone phaser, I found a pretty good emulator called the Classic Phaser* (see TECH UPDATE at bottom of page). There is also a short mixed back delay to give a feeling of openess to the sound.

The Wind sound was generated by the NK1001 VST analogue synth emulator.

All the laser shot FX were generated by using the retrofex setting on the NK 1001 then adjusting the LFO frequency pot manually to create the desired effect. Using this method you can recreate the short pings as well as the long descending tones you hear prominently in the intro. To complete the effect I passed it through a stereo delay, dry sound 100% to the left, delay feedback 100% to the right. This makes the laser sound skip across the speakers like the original.

The bass sound was created using a VST called Transcender with a short delay so the bass notes bounce back. This underpins the rhythm.

The intro sequence was created using the KaoS VST sine-pad. However, three notes from the sequence are picked out and played on the Transcender bass set up only in a high octave, this sound is run through a delay to give it the spacey beep you can hear mixed in with the main KaoS sequence. The advantage of this is you can keep the beep going after the intro sequence has faded out.

The pizzicato (or 'pluck') style sound used for the main melody in the first half is an Eminant 310 sound font played through a sound font player. The font came from a thread on BlahBlah café, a discussion forum dedicated to Jarre and his music. The font player I used was the Fontaminator.

BlahBlah Café was also the source for the Korg Minipops 7 wave files. This came as a complete set of individual sounds that I loaded into the SR 202 drum machine VST.

The flute sound used for the main theme in the second half is created by the Synth1 VST. This uses a similar delay to the bass sound only slightly longer causing the main sound to hang back off the rhythm. The effect of this is a more organic feel to my performance. The real genius of Jarre is his ability to make electronic music sound so expressive.

The french horn type sound under the flute in the second half of the track is made by the Crystal1 VST.

The Mellotron choir at the end is made by the MellowSound VST, an excellent Mellotron emulator.

The sea-shore effect under the second half of the track is the General MIDI standard sound preset 122, any number of freeware synths will give you this effect. I simply used the MIDI voice on my sound card.

The key to creating Jarre sounds is in the work you do to the finished track. Once you have got the sounds close enough you can add effects and EQ, also the final mix will change how they interact and behave sonically. Dont be afraid to experiment and try things out but most of all, enjoy.

*TECH UPDATE: If you are looking for the Jarre string sound I've found some great resources. The Nomad Factory have ceased support of their 'Warmer Phaser' and have made it available as freeware. It has an adjustable valve simulator which creates fantastic warm tones just like the Electroharmonix Small Stone phaser. Used in conjunction with an Eminent 310 string sound font or the Stringer VST (also freeware) it's possible to create an exact sonic replica of the sound Jarre used on Oxygene.

Eminent 310 soundfonts can be found at www.perkristian.net/Eminent_310_Unique_S oundfonts.htm

(the Oxygene pt. 2 'pluck' soundfont can also be found here).

A BIG thank you to the wonderful people involved with this project for keeping the 310 sounds alive, I strongly recommend you check out the rest of the website dedicated to the E 310!"

Making Analog Drums using the Z3000 and Z5000

Making Analog Drums using the Z3000 and Z5000 from GM on Vimeo.
"Simple patch, having the Z3k's doing the Bass drum and Snare drum, The two Z5000 are saturated making the HH's. MFB Drum sequencer clocked by LFO triggers the sounds. All the outputs are then mixed with the Plan B mixer, playing the switches to open and close the sounds. Tight!!"
Update: I think I'm going to save the larger embedded videos for the HD ones.

Eminent Unique 310

via Jos: "I finished the repair of my Eminent Unique 310. You can read the reports in my blog [Eminent Unique 310 Restoration]. It took me a lot of work. I had to exchange 5 germanium diodes, 2 shorted capacitors, and a fried resistor. Cleaning the key contacts was very time consuming."

Ant---onE Tout Seul!!! Ben oui ça arrive!! Suis tombé lol

YouTube via axc909. "(Ant---onE)C ça la teknik!!!!!"
Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution starts it. KORG EM-1X. Roland MC-909.
Check out the thumbnails or click here for more.

dirtbag

via Baghead's sounds channel
"starts off with Novation Bass station preset 09 with a touch of spring reverb , then around 30 seconds I add the ElectroHarmonix Bi-Filter with triangle CV sweeps from the Moog MP201 , then at 55 seconds it gets really dirty with a Frostwave Sonic Alienator in the FX loop of the Bi_FIlter and at that point it makes the Bass station rack a righteous bass machine ....dirrrrrtyyyyyyyyy!! - then at 2:12 backwards to the preset and ends with drums which is a very basic Microtonic preset. - enjoy!"

Digitana Micro Punk Console as a modulation source for analog synth

YouTube via DigitanaUK. Note the Micro Punk console is available on Ebay.
"A demo of me showing the Micro Punk Console being used to modify the sounds of a Moog Little Phatty.

In the video I am using the Filter CV and Pitch CV inputs at different times to show some of the possibilities. Any analog synth with CV inputs could be used in place of the Moog, such as a modular synth or a MS10/20 etc.

All the audio is unprocessed direct out from the Moog, see my other videos for sounds of the Micro Punk Console.

Hope you enjoy it and please subscribe if you do!"

nukaoss

YouTube via comemelinhos. "korgkaoss"

bokina

YouTube via comemelinhos
"rádio fm vs korg kaoss pad 3"

Bit Blob

YouTube via drbleep
"Noise performers extraordinaire, The Loud Objects, and Dr. Bleep have teamed up to create the first being of pure noise!

The Bit Blob is a digital noise maker that's controlled by connecting its contacts together, allowing you to bend your way through unlimited sonic madness. You can also connect LEDs, audio outputs, or other Bit Blobs between control pins.

Only 30 will be made for this holiday season.

bleeplabs.com"

You can find some images here.

Roland SH-3A

images at this auction

"Here is about 15 minutes of me playing the synth on 11/14/08 [link]
Check out the photos here"

VERMONA

images at this auction
"VERMONA SYNTHESIZER IS AN 2-OSC MONOSYNTH WITH 1LFO, 1VCF + 5 PRESET ADSR AND ENV MOD, 1VCA WITH ADSR + 5 PRESETS, GLIDE, VIBRATO, WHEELS AND MORE... IT NOT LIKE THE MODERN VERMONA DEVICES, IT IS A RETRO VINTAGE PURE ANALOG SYNTHESIZER

CONTROL PARAMETERS:
- OSC 1-2 WAVEFORMS: PULSE, SQUARE, SAW, NOISE
- OSC 1-2 OCTAVES: 32', 16', 8', 4', 2'
- AMPLIFIER: 5 PRESET ENVELOPES, MANUAL - ADSR, MAIN VOLUME, PHONES LEVEL
- FILTER: 24dB/OCT, 5 PRESET ENV, MANUAL - CUTOFF, RESONANCE, CONTOUR (FILT ENV), BRILLIANCE

- PITCH: GLOBAL TUNE, OSC COARSE/FINE TUNE, GLIDE ON/TIME LEVEL, DELAY VIBRATO ON
- LFO: SPEED, MOD VCF
- WHEELS CONTROL: LFO LEVEL, PITCH SHIFT"

PEARL SC-20 Electronic drum brain synthesizer

via this auction
"Pearl SC-20 Electronic drum brain
8channel programmable percussion synthesizer
it includes and creates wide variety of sounds
from typical '80s SIMMONS sound to very strange electronic noise
this is DCO synthesizer has many wave samples
so of course you can creates normal drum kit
but I recommends SC-20 for ELECTRO and strange electronic sound lovers
it's very easy to creates your own unique and strange percussions!
using various usable edit parameters(such as warm analog filter section)

edit parameters are
SOURCE:
wave
pitch
modulation
noise
bend env.
bend depth
bend speed

TONE:
filter freq
. filter env.
env depth
env speed
decay

ATTACK:
filter freq.
filter width
decay
balance

8 pad/trigger input
8 separate outpt
MIDI in out thru
stereo/mono output
headphone output"

Novation Supernova II

images at this auction

Sequential Circuits Six-Trak

images at this auction

Elektron SID Station

images at this auction

"Elektron Sid Station synthesizer based on the MOS 6581 sid chip from the Commodore 64."

What is that protruding out the back?

Update via xonox in the comments: "Thing at the back is the contrast knob for the lcd screen."

Studio Electronics ATC-Xi

images at this auction

Fruity Loops Debacle Update

I updated the original post with two videos from two bands that this situation reminded me of. IMonster with Day Dream in Blue and Beta band with Squares. Both used the same sample hook. Both released at roughly the same time. Do check them out. Trust me, it's worth it. There's some great EMS Synthi and KORG MS20 action in IMonstor's version. If the loop is the basis of a song, they are going to sound like the same song, or... maybe not? You be the judge. When you get to the previous post, scroll down to the red update. I also made a key part of the text yellow in case anyone missed it.

Update: for those that already checked out the update, I found the uncensored version of I Monster's Daydream In Blue. It's at the bottom of the post and NOT safe for work.

korg poly 61 subrtractive synthesis

YouTube via nathanielscott
"With the ocilliscope on yu can see how using a single ocillator a varitey of wave shape can be created. The Poly 61 has two ocillators and each ocillator only has two wave shapes: saw tooth and square, though the first ocillator has a pulse width modulation feature on its square wave form. Using only the first ocillator not ony can variation of a sqaure waves and sawtooth waves can be created but by using the filter section sine wave, triangle waves and far more complex wave forms can also be created."

iPod Touch Wallpapers: Treble and Hiss

flickr by ArtWerk

Last Chance for Mini Waves for 2008

via Blacet

"We just kitted up the last of the PCBs and have 5 kits left plus 10 assembled units. This will be it until Spring 2009."

"The Blacet/Wiard Mini Wave is our incredibly popular wavetable lookup device with 256 on board waveforms (256 bytes per waveform). You drive it with a VCO sawtooth wave and it tracks the input frequency. Or, drive it with any waveform for some amazing distortion effects! Wave and Bank selection are voltage controllable! You will want more than one."

Be sure to see these posts for more, and specifically the Retrosynth MiniROM.

Tabla for the iPhone

"The Tabla (also known as Arabic drum, darkukkah, darbouka or dumbak) is a single-headed hand- drum found in most Arab music ensembles.

This application provides a Tabla with 5 different beat sounds, the "Doum" in the middle, and 4 different "Taks" in the four corners of the drum.

For best sound quality, connect your iPhone/iPod touch to external speakers or headphones.

You can play your iPod music in the background while using this application and accompany the song!"

You can find Tabla here:


Update via Murray in the comments:
"1. That's not a picture of a tabla.
2. Tablas are not the same as darkukkahs, darboukas or dumbaks."

Note the image is the image in the iTunes store for Tabla as of this post.

Atari Punk Wonderbread

YouTube via robotpickle
"Some stupid APC on a breadboard and my fat chubby fingers fingering it out."

3 volts sequencer

YouTube via ggijs
"A old video of my 5 volt sequencer, the video is from 2001/2002 or so. On the video it still uses 3 volts, but later i changed it to 5, and added some pots to the channels. http://gieskes.nl/instruments/?file=5..."

Moog Little Phatty Vs Clavia Nord Lead 3 Part2, testing by S4K

YouTube via Space4Keys. follow-up to this post. www.space4keys.com

2 x0xb0xes + TR-606

YouTube via accenter
"2 x0xb0xes laufen synchron mit einem ähnlichen pattern leicht gegeneinander verstimmt."

Best pedal ever.

YouTube via RothHandle
"Roth Händle studio is located in Stockholm, Sweden. It is run by me, Mattias Olsson. If you are curious to read more about the studio please take a stroll by www.roth-handle.nu The website hasn't been updated for quite some time but there might be some little morsels of interest for you."

Best pedal ever Part II


So... Anyone know what pedal that is exactly? I heard Clearsound and Shenay? :)

Recording drums with the casio SK-1

YouTube via RothHandle

The Casio sk-5 flute sopund

I'm guessing sopund is supposed to be sound? It is a cool sound.

The V-Machine is Shipping

"The VFX Software is available for download on 21.11.2008!

The V-Machine is a compact VST/VSTi hardware playback module built for performance keyboard players and DJ's. It is one little beast that can't be underestimated once loaded up with your favorite VST instrument and effect plug-
ins. Take your plug-ins on the road or into the studio and access them live without a computer. Multiple plug-ins can be pre-loaded into bank/preset memories for immediate access. Combine VST and VSTi plug-ins into chains, splits, and layers to create extremely rich and unique sounds. Full external MIDI controller support allows users access to available loaded plug-in parameter controls such as virtual dials, switches, and faders."

priced at $599 US. via Sonic State.

You might remember the V-Machine from this prior post.

Metasonix Wretch Machine S-1000

flickr by donokono

just a nice shot of the S-1000

metasonix.com

Synths and More Lost in the California Fires - MOOG Music Offers Help

Nick Montoya lost his home an a number of synths in the California fires. Fortunately he and his family were on the road when it happened so they are all safe. Some synths made it as well, however quite a few were lost along with of course the home. There is a thread on this at the Moog Music Forum here. Moog has set up donation box to help out.

via Amos of Moog Music
"Hi all,
We can also accept PayPal donations sent to heidi@moogmusic.com. Any donations we receive will be sent directly to Nick, Anna and Eva, along with a care package from their friends here at Moog Music.

I hope that the Moog online community can pull together to offer some help here to one of our own. This is a tough break for these kids, and your support could make a real difference.

Feel free to call us for more info; 800-948-1990. Thanks for your help!

-Amos Gaynes"


Nick Montoya:
"Wow..

Thank you all sooooooo much.. Yes, this is tragic but could have been WAY worse..

We were outta town, so we couldnt save what we didn't bring with us.. Luckily we were outta town doing a gig and recording session with Bernie (coincidence that he played keys on Talking Heads "Burning down the house") ... Not funny, but i have to try to laugh to keep from cryin'..

So we had all our most important stuff, but all our sentimental crap, along with furniture, beds, socks, appliances, all that bleep is gone!

There were rumors around town that we lost ALL our equipment and some crazy fans said that emailed moog to try and replace our gear!!

BUT - we had alot with us... Things we DIDNT lose in terms of equipment:

Moog Minimoog Model D
Moog Voyager
Moog Little Phatty TE "#14"
Moog MG1 (Concermate)
Moog Etherwave Standard
Korg Microkorg
Korg Electribe ES1
Hohner Melodica
Alesis 16ch Firewire mixer
Mac Book (with our entire new unreleased album)
M audio BX5A (pair of studio monitors)

So thats the good news..

We got back here to SB last night and went and saw the property. The house is leveled, other than the chimney.... We went back this morning and dug through some rubble.. Nothing at all to salvage..

I found a few pieces of the Baldwin Synthsound (VERY RARE).. Totally un recognizable!

The most important thing is that we are all safe.. Things are looking up.. Now I just gotta find a place to rent here in SB for the good price I had on the rental that burned down...

Thank you all so much for your kind words, prayers, and support! WE love you Moogies, and once we release this album - you will understand that EVERYTHING IS GONNA BE GREAT! So excited!"

via Rick at Moog Music.

JL Cooper CS-10 MIDI Controller

images via this auction
"Here’s why you want this:
* It’s metal. This is no toy, and it feel so much nicer to use than a lot of the plastic stuff on the market.
* It has MIDI - In, Out, and Thru ports. Not the weird modem-like connector that some of the CS-10’s have. It also sends basic control information that software like Ableton Live understands perfectly.
* It has a ton of controls. Eight (8) 100mm non-motorized faders, thirty (30) buttons, six (6) pots, and one jog wheel.
* No logos. The CS-10 has been carefully and tastefully repainted to a flat-black color. The front fake-leather palm rest has also been removed, to conserve desk space, and because it wasn't aging well.
* Comes with the power supply, PDF manual, a MIDI cable, and has been fully tested. A lot of used CS-10’s on the market haven’t been tested, or you need to buy a power supply to use them. This is good to go out of the box.
* You can program it. Or, better stated, there's a lot of software out there to modify what the CS-10 outputs. This (PC-only) software will allow you to map the input to emulate a Mackie Control Device: http://shoshin.110mb.com/genmce/ - I tried this with Ableton Live, and it worked perfectly. You can also use software like MIDIOX (or, if you're really adventurous, something like PureData or Max/MSP) to send SYSEX back to the CS-10 to turn the LED's on and off, etc (as a note, the LED's do not turn on and off by default. I believe that when plugged into Cubase or ProTools, those DAW's send the proper SYSEX back to the CS-10 to do that, but I don't have those to test it. The LEDs do work, however)."

Two Non acid TB-303 Tracks

There's a thread on AH discussing the Roland TB-303 vs. DSI Mopho which of course bled over to "breaking out of the box" and using the 303 for non acid tracks. The following are three examples via David.

Justice - Paul Haig

YouTube via 1digite
"from Rhythm of life with images from Madea by Pasolini"

Newcleus - Automan *1983

YouTube via StretchinOut
"** An unrelated video composite created for the purpose of posting this song."

Shannon "Let the Music Play"

YouTube via drakep
"One of the greatest dance songs in the early 80's considered at the time to be powerpop along with Madonna's 'Holiday'"

8-Bit Egypt

via Kitsunexus

"I recently got a DS Lite, and of course the first thing I HAD TO HAVE was KORG DS-10, it's utterly AMAZING! Here's just a little song I made getting used to it, it's nothing fancy, but I like it. :3

8-Bit Egypt

If you have a DS, there's NO REASON you shouldn't own DS10! It's powerful and easy, like if you can design sounds on an analog synth and you have used a piano roll sequencer before, then you don't even need the manual! ALL HAIL KORG AND AQ SOFTWARE! (And XSEED for bringing it to USA!)"
KORG DS-10 on Ebay
KORG DS-10 on Amazon

The Smule Mule: Jamming With Lauren on iPhone Ocarina

YouTube via smuleage
"iPhone | Ocarina | SMule.
http://ocarina.smule.com/
http://themulewashere.blogspot.com
doing the first ever On the fly Ocarina Jam!
See people anything is possible."
You can get Ocarina's Smule here:

how to play 1-finger minimal house

YouTube via feelda303. "1-finger "music"... :-)"

Korg Lambda brass and EP strings

YouTube via kennykeyboard
"The Lambda brass setting by itself uses 2 oscillators which can be detuned. It shares one filter envelope which is more noticeable with staccato playing. The EP strings is nicer since it allows a slow attack for the strings part. The person mentioned at the end has a music theory book with which she will slap me for not resolving my harmonies."

Prophet 08 mushy strings playing

YouTube via kennykeyboard

prosthetic

YouTube via ripe909
"A mellow acid track featuring the SE BassLine x0xb0x as 303.
SE BassLine for sale at http://www.socialentropy.com/bassline

Sequenced on the genoQs Octopus, with 909 for drums and a little Machinedrum and virus TI."

Can Using Loops in FL Studio Get You In Trouble?

There's a fascinating thread running on the Image-Line forum as well as the Velvetacidchrist forum. In short someone used a loop in Image-Line's Fruity Loops, and someone else is threatening to sue for unauthorized use of the sample.

via dirtycircuit on the Image-Line forum:
"I used the loop 'Berlin' in one of my songs on a cd I recently finished only to be contacted by an angry deadmau5 threatening legal action.

WHY ARE THESE AVAILABLE AS LOOPS AND WHY AREN'T THEY CREDITED OR NOTED AS HIS??
I would NOT have used it had I known it was his

Also what am I to do at this point. the cd is on iTunes and Amazon, so i can't just take it off myspace and forget it.

I'm really upset with the FL team over this. Now I look like an a-hole"

You can find more on the velvetacidchrist forum as well.

I decided to download the Fruity Loops demo to see what it stated in regards to use of it's loops. If you go to Help followed by Product Information followed by Samples and Sounds you will see the following at the bottom of the page:

"All samples are royalty-free, which means you can use the samples in your own compositions and songs without paying any further royalties. You are not allowed, however, to resell or redistribute any or all of the samples as a sample pack or sample CD."

The two tracks in contention:
"Berlin" at: http://www.myspace.com/dirtycircuit

The original trac "Faxing Berlin" by Deadmau5:
Deadmau5 - Faxing Berlin

YouTube via Cupradude. Note there are some comments on YouTube as well.

Update: This reminds me of two commercial acts that released two separate songs based on the same loop; IMonster's Daydream In Blue and Beta Band's Squares. Both used "Daydream" or "Day Dream In Blue" by the Belgian band Wallace Collection in 1968. You can read more about the source sample as well as its use by IMonster and Beta Band here on Wikipedia. Both tracks were released around the same time. via the Wikipedia article:

"Coincidentally, at almost exactly the same time as I Monster were releasing Daydream in Blue, The Beta Band were just about to release their single Squares from their 2001 album Hot Shots II. Squares also used the same melody as the original throughout and had the original song's chorus line. On realizing the clash with I Monster, The Beta Band were forced to pull the single and released Broke from the same album instead. Squares, however, may be found on the first soundtrack for HBO's Six Feet Under. Also by coincidence, the two vocalists for these two versions sound quite similar, which led to people thinking that Daydream in Blue might well be the work of The Beta Band or that Squares might be the work of I Monster."

IMonster - Daydream In Blue (censored version)
[unfortunately the uncensored version appears to have been pulled - Update: found it - it's further below]


Beta Band - Squares


Update: Found the uncensored version of IMonster's Daydream in blue. WARNING: this is one is definitely NOT SAFE FOR WORK.